Rickenbacker, how does it stack up these days?

[Jay J.]

the rickenbacker bass is definetly one of the great classic basses weather you like em or not. I am woundering how people think the RIC's stack up to modern competition like warwick. and have fives become the new "bass to have" making older style fours like the RIC a little out of date.

[mortivan]

"Four's" will NEVER go out of style!!

 

The newer Ric's have updated pickups etc. to provide the player with more versatile tones. Notably, the newer neck pickups are pretty bassy.

 

They still need to address the shielding issue... BUT, I'l never part with my 1994 4003.

 

-mort

[Banta]

The Rickenbacker 4003 is still as fine an instrument as ever, and although I have two Zon Legacy (Zon's premier line) basses, my favorites are the Rics, and they get the most use. I have a 4003 custom 4 string and a 4003S/5 five string shown here:

 

http://community.webshots.com/rz/r1/7/18/64/27971864IoxPvzXMsM_ph.jpg

 

The five string is built on the traditional 4003S series body with only a 1/8" wider neck than the four string, so string spacing is tight. This is perfect for me as I usually use a pick, but is difficult for fingerstyle. Rickenbacker is addressing the issue with a new model 4004cii5 shown here:

http://www.rickenbacker.com/images/4004cii5.jpg

I think it's a good move on their part.

[BNC]

It depends on taste, there is nothing that sounds like a Ric. They are more versatile than people give them credit. The problem is that when someone hears "Ric", the first thing that pops into their minds is Chris Squire. You can get a mellow, smooth tone if you have both pickups on full volume and all the treble rolled off on both. I do this to my '79 Autumn glow and it sounds incredible. As for 5s, some peole love them, some don't, I prefer a 4 because I find that the 5 extra super low notes you get are not that usefull. Just my .02.

[dcr]

It's hard to say how well the Ric compares with other basses, because it's usually apples & oranges. The Ric is passive w/ single coils, so it's a different beast from the "modern" basses like Warwicks; yet it's neck-through, has a distinctive neck profile, & has a unique sound, so it's also hard to compare it to "old school" basses like standard Fenders & their many clones. It has distinctive attack, lots of growl, tons of sustain, clarity like a piano, & a large proportion of treble. Now all of those factors can be altered, depending on on-board adjustments (a 3-way switch to blend the two pickups, with separate volume & tone for each pickup), preamp adjustments, string type, playing style, etc. You can dial out the Ric's natural attack, but it's harder to dial it in on other basses! The Ric also responds *very* differently as you alter your plucking style; that makes it possible to get very different sounds out of it without touching any knobs, dials, or switches, & I think that's a sign of a good bass; so also is the fact that the more transparent the amp, the better it sounds. Hear the maple!

 

The only issue is whether you can get the music you want to play out of it. So try one, & try to spend some time with it. It's not like other basses, so at first you might think, "Hmm, it just doesn't have that Fender feel," or whatever. It's a Ric. You've got to approach it on its own terms. Have fun trying! (And Bass NW has 'em new for $999! Dang!!)